Opening Day is my favorite time of year.  Not for the Red Sox, but for the local baseball and softball players in Hanson, Whitman and East Bridgewater.

I had the opportunity this past weekend to cover all three towns on the same day, after Whitman’s parade was postponed a week due to rain.  I couldn’t stay for the first pitch ceremony, but the organizers of the WBSA always do a nice job organizing the ceremony and picking someone to throw out the first pitch.  Hanson’s ceremony was great as usual –– as I said in the Hanson editorial, it’s not spring until you hear Fr. Mark Hannon sing God Bless America.  Asking Brian Fountaine to throw the first pitch was a nice touch as well, as was the class Fountaine showed by making a donation to the league.

East Bridgewater’s parade is always an interesting sight, as the many colors of the players’ uniforms shine in the sun during the march down Church Street to the fields.  They don’t have a first pitch ceremony in EB, but the handing out of league jackets to the 12-year-old players is always a nice touch.

It couldn’t have been nicer weather for all three events.  So while the Red Sox machine cranks all of Massachusetts to a frenzy in the coming months, I’ll remember Saturday as a time when young men and women excitedly started their baseball or softball season, and I’ll be glad I was there to see it.